Antunez is a Cuban imprisoned more than seventeen years ago for proclaiming himself against the Castro regime. This past March 15th, was the last day of the time he was sentenced to spend in prison in a trial which will surely soon be revisited when the same thing happens in Cuba that is happening in all of Latin America. Since the dictatorship has run out of the sentences that fell on this political prisoner one after the other, it continues to hold him in prison without any other justification than its authoritarian will.

Antunez, is one of the 300 political prisoners who suffer the permanent violence of a regime which does not allow the International Red Cross visit the country, much less its prisons: These prisons where common prisoners and political prisoners are brutalized. The prisoners are given summary trials lasting no longer than 72 hours once it is proven that they wrote critically of the government, were active in political parties that advocated freedom of expression and elections, formed part of human rights monitoring groups or lent books from their homes by censored authors or containing opinions censored by the government. The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights is one such censored document.

Antúnez is a black Cuban, whose skin color proves a burden in a country where blacks have no place in the highly restricted authoritarian power centers, despite being an extremely large proportion of the population. Antúnez was imprisoned at a very young age, barely 24, and has spent half his life behind bars. Antúnez has never ceased to rebel against the degrading treatment to which he is submitted, which seems only to encourage the cruelty of his jailers. Antúnez has flirted with death on his repeated hunger strikes making demands on behalf of his fellow prisoners up and down Cuba. He has challenged the ignorance of a stuporous international community dosed in the past as now by the Cuban dictatorship’s narcotic, saturating propaganda.

Antúnez is awaiting his freedom since March 15, the last day of his sentence. He surely awaits it in order to offer a demand for his people’s dignity, for that of his fellow prisoners, for his country’s freedom and for tolerance in the Cuban nation from the very gates that once constrained him. Perhaps after his new courageous cry the regime will find reasons to imprison him again, and Antúnez will continue spending most of his life as a prisoner rather than as a free man.

In his book, Jorge Luis García Pérez "Antúnez" writes, "I was twenty five years, five months and fifteen days old when I was sent to prison. I recently turned 38 and, like many young Cubans, have wasted my best years in prison, charged with the sole crime of not sharing the government's ideology".

Why is a man who has suffered, heard and seen what other men's cynicism and evilness are capable of, able to challenge them even though this challenge cannot promise him personal gains in terms of power or wealth?

Why, even in prison, does that man stand tall not only to protect his integrity but also to defend other prisoners who sometimes do not even share his ideas and aspirations?

Why does that man not seem intimidated or belittled by the frequent isolation punishments and physical and psychological torture?

Why do his decisions and character not seem affected by the passing of the years, the obvious loss of his early youth, the illnesses, the despair of seeing no changes despite so much effort?

Why does the suffering of his loved ones (the ultimate test) not break his spirit?

This struggle is incomprehensible to people who live without ideals, but easy to understand for those who have broken free from fetters and seen death perched like a starving vulture. It is the behavior of those who believe that one's country stands for agony and duty, or simply those who understand the word "integrity" and "honor"; for all of them and for Jorge Luis García Pérez "Antúnez" himself, his attitude is "natural and simple."

One of the surest indicators of the repressive nature of the Castro regime is the jailing of more than 300 political prisoners. To illustrate that reality, Uncommon Sense each week profiles one prisoner. There also is a Political Prisoner archive on the left sidebar. To suggest a prisoner for a profile, send me an e-mail.

» The cruelty never ends ... nor surprises from Babalu Blog
A hero of the Cuban people, former political prisoner Jorge Luis García Pérez “Antúnez”, has begun a hunger strike to demand the return of his former home. Via Cuban Democratic Directorate: Placetas. July 4, 2007. Former political prisoner and prisoner... [Read More]

Tracked on July 05, 2007 at 09:19 PM

» Dance with the invisible ones from Babalu Blog
An extraordinary event will take place at 8:30 p.m. in Little Havana: A candlelight vigil to show support for and solidarity with Cuba's political prisoners. I cannot be there in person, but my spirit, as it is every day with... [Read More]

Tracked on July 09, 2007 at 12:01 AM

» A Black September Surprise? from Babalu Blog
Cuban dissident leader Martha Beatriz Roque was briefly detained this evening, as she and other dissidents protested outside the Justice Ministry in Havana, according Marti Noticias and AFP. They had gone there to protest the treatment of Cuban politic... [Read More]

Tracked on September 27, 2007 at 10:09 PM

» Where is Antúnez? from Babalu Blog
Jorge Luis García Pérez "Antúnez" More than 17 years in prison. Barely five months out of jail. And now this. The dying dictator must be so proud of his little brother. (Cross-posted at Uncommon Sense)... [Read More]

Tracked on September 28, 2007 at 11:38 AM

» Update on Antúnez from Babalu Blog
Cuba Encuentro is reporting that former political prisoner Jorge Luis García Pérez, better known as "Antúnez" is recovering in a Havana hospital, after suffering what might have been a heart attack. Earlier accounts of his hospitalization did not detai... [Read More]

» Four dissidents arrested from Babalu Blog
Four Cuban dissidents — including former political prisoner Jorge Luis García Pérez (Antúnez) — were detained Sunday afternoon, according to several news reports. Presumably, the police arrested them so they cannot participate in today's activities to ... [Read More]

Tracked on December 10, 2007 at 07:12 AM

» Several dissidents remain jailed from Babalu Blog
Cuban Democratic Directorate has a list of the names of Cuban dissidents arrested or otherwised harassed, threatened or assaulted by the dictatorship's goons on Monday, International Human Rights Day, and a few days prior. The attacks happened througho... [Read More]

Tracked on December 11, 2007 at 04:57 AM

» The love of a Cuban woman from Babalu Blog
Bertha Pernet Antunez As far as I know, Bertha Pernet Antunez, has never spent a night in a Cuban jail. Her example, however, is no less powerful than that set by her fellow Cubans — and fellow family members... [Read More]

Tracked on January 02, 2008 at 08:55 PM

» Taking it to the streets from Babalu Blog
While returning home from breakfast this morning, I drove by a small group of people demonstrating against passage of a property tax reform proposal on the Jan. 29 ballot here in Florida. I don't doubt their sincerity — their... [Read More]

Antunez is a Cuban imprisoned more than seventeen years ago for proclaiming himself against the Castro regime. This past March 15th, was the last day of the time he was sentenced to spend in prison in a trial which will surely soon be revisited when the same thing happens in Cuba that is happening in all of Latin America. Since the dictatorship has run out of the sentences that fell on this political prisoner one after the other, it continues to hold him in prison without any other justification than its authoritarian will.

Antunez, is one of the 300 political prisoners who suffer the permanent violence of a regime which does not allow the International Red Cross visit the country, much less its prisons: These prisons where common prisoners and political prisoners are brutalized. The prisoners are given summary trials lasting no longer than 72 hours once it is proven that they wrote critically of the government, were active in political parties that advocated freedom of expression and elections, formed part of human rights monitoring groups or lent books from their homes by censored authors or containing opinions censored by the government. The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights is one such censored document.

Antúnez is a black Cuban, whose skin color proves a burden in a country where blacks have no place in the highly restricted authoritarian power centers, despite being an extremely large proportion of the population. Antúnez was imprisoned at a very young age, barely 24, and has spent half his life behind bars. Antúnez has never ceased to rebel against the degrading treatment to which he is submitted, which seems only to encourage the cruelty of his jailers. Antúnez has flirted with death on his repeated hunger strikes making demands on behalf of his fellow prisoners up and down Cuba. He has challenged the ignorance of a stuporous international community dosed in the past as now by the Cuban dictatorship’s narcotic, saturating propaganda.

Antúnez is awaiting his freedom since March 15, the last day of his sentence. He surely awaits it in order to offer a demand for his people’s dignity, for that of his fellow prisoners, for his country’s freedom and for tolerance in the Cuban nation from the very gates that once constrained him. Perhaps after his new courageous cry the regime will find reasons to imprison him again, and Antúnez will continue spending most of his life as a prisoner rather than as a free man.

In his book, Jorge Luis García Pérez "Antúnez" writes, "I was twenty five years, five months and fifteen days old when I was sent to prison. I recently turned 38 and, like many young Cubans, have wasted my best years in prison, charged with the sole crime of not sharing the government's ideology".

Why is a man who has suffered, heard and seen what other men's cynicism and evilness are capable of, able to challenge them even though this challenge cannot promise him personal gains in terms of power or wealth?

Why, even in prison, does that man stand tall not only to protect his integrity but also to defend other prisoners who sometimes do not even share his ideas and aspirations?

Why does that man not seem intimidated or belittled by the frequent isolation punishments and physical and psychological torture?

Why do his decisions and character not seem affected by the passing of the years, the obvious loss of his early youth, the illnesses, the despair of seeing no changes despite so much effort?

Why does the suffering of his loved ones (the ultimate test) not break his spirit?

This struggle is incomprehensible to people who live without ideals, but easy to understand for those who have broken free from fetters and seen death perched like a starving vulture. It is the behavior of those who believe that one's country stands for agony and duty, or simply those who understand the word "integrity" and "honor"; for all of them and for Jorge Luis García Pérez "Antúnez" himself, his attitude is "natural and simple."

One of the surest indicators of the repressive nature of the Castro regime is the jailing of more than 300 political prisoners. To illustrate that reality, Uncommon Sense each week profiles one prisoner. There also is a Political Prisoner archive on the left sidebar. To suggest a prisoner for a profile, send me an e-mail.